Tony Pulis and Arsene Wenger might not have always agreed on footballing philosophies, but the Crystal Palace manager handed over the Gunners a big favour on Wednesday as they defeat Everton at Goodison Park. It put back Arsenal in the driving seat for the race for the fourth spot in the league table. Arsene Wenger wasn’t surprised by Crystal Palace’s victory against the Merseyside club and insists that they have been in good form off late.

“If you look at the consistency of Crystal Palace’s results in the last two months, it is very impressive,” Wenger said. “They have beaten Chelsea and now Everton, so they have had some great results.

“Let’s be honest, of course we wanted Crystal Palace to make a result but you know that in the Premier League, it is like that. Since the start of the season we have learned one thing, that you can drop points everywhere.

“It is of course a big encouragement but there is a lot of work to do for us, and that’s what we want to continue to do.

“We have a big game at Hull, we just want to prepare as well as we can for it. I think mentally we are in a better shape than a week ago, because we had two important wins, and that of course puts us in a better condition on the confidence front.” – The Arsenal manager said.

Crystal Palace have guaranteed their safety this season with that win and they already proved a lot of doubters wrong. Tony Pulis’ arrival has improved the team immensely and Arsene Wenger believes that the former Stoke City manager, along with Steve Bruce, whose Hull City side have made it to the FA Cup final, should be in contention for the manager of the season awards.

“I wouldn’t choose [the winner] myself but Steve Bruce and Tony Pulis have done exceptional work, that is for sure. I believe the real job of a manager is to take the best out of the potential of the team.

“The easy way is always to choose the guy who wins the league but it is not always him who has done the best job. The real job is to take the best out of the potential of the team and certainly they are candidates.

“He [Bruce] has done extremely well. He is one of the remarkable managers of the season because he has maintained highly in the Premier League because they are safe and he has reached the FA Cup final. That’s remarkable what he has achieved.” – Wenger added.